How to Get Pocket Listings from Real Estate Agents
Today I got a pocket listing from a local listing agent that I've been working with.
When agents are excited to work with you, they'll give you access to their pocket listings, which are MLS listings that they haven't actually put out to the public yet.
This is how you can use the double dip strategy to persuade them to submit offers for you on the distressed properties they find.
What is the MLS?
When you see a property that's for sale on the MLS, unless it specifically says "for sale by owner" or "FSBO" it means that that property owner has signed a contract with a real estate agent and that agent has the legal and ethical right to represent them for that house sale.
So when we're looking at on-market properties, we're not skip tracing the homeowner to try to go directly to them. We want to do things above the board, we want to stay legal, we want to stay ethical.
And in my opinion, it's actually easier to work with the real estate agent than it is with the homeowner and I'll share that with you guys in a minute.
Now if you're not sure exactly what I mean when I say the MLS, which stands for the "multiple listing service," the MLS is where people go to sell their houses.
And for those of us who are not real estate agents, we don't have access to the MLS.
So we can think of it like a house: we can't go into the house and move things around, we can't go take things out, we can't put things in, we don't have access, and we don't have the key.
But through sites like Redfin or Zillow, we have windows into the house so we can see the homes that are for sale.
We might be able to tell a little bit of information about them, but we can't actually change anything. So when I say the MLS, I'm just referring to homes that are for sale using a real estate agent. And when I say Redfin or Zillow, that's how we find those homes.
The BRRRR Deal
So the agent sent me a deal off-market.
The seller wanted to sell because the contractor kind of dipped out on him and the rehab job was about halfway done so he wanted to sell.
We went out there and walked through it.
The seller showed up, I made the offer right there, and we shook on it.
Contracts got signed and then she tells me that he has three more properties that he wants to sell.
He gave her the keys so we're going to check out those properties, see if we can also get offers in, and get offers accepted.
My mind is pretty much blown right now because I'm going from having zero experience rehabbing and flipping properties, and doing some wholesale deals and now trying to rehab and BRRRR my own properties.
So hopefully things go well. Let's go.
I think the house was in really good condition.
There might be a little bit of foundation issues. Possibly a plumbing leak but nothing that was gonna be super extensive so I will definitely make an offer on that one.
I'm budgeting for somewhere between five to ten grand on foundation issues, really not many cosmetic updates that are needed either.
And then BRRRR and keep it as a rental.
The next house we're going to is one that I believe the rehab is about halfway done, same as yesterday's property.
A freshly remodeled home will be a really good comp to tell us what it is after we get it back into nice livable condition.
So this is actually the first house that I got under contract to BRRRR myself and not wholesale it.
I could have wholesaled it probably around five thousand dollars. I decided to keep it and BRRRR it myself. The closing on this one got delayed, so we're waiting until about mid-June and then we'll be closing.
This is the same agent who we were just hanging out with today who brought me all those pocket listings.
That house that we just went to and the other two we saw earlier today and a fourth one that I'm gonna get pictures of, all came because of this deal because I built a relationship with the agent.
I let her get double commission on the deal by using Jerry Norton's "double dip strategy" and representing me as well.
So it's just a testament of building relationships with agents and then getting access to their pocket listings and closing more and more deals, whether you want to keep them for yourself or you want to wholesale them.
START YOUR REAL ESTATE INVESTING JOURNEY TODAY!
So, now that you've gotten an intro to pocket listings, are you ready to start your real estate journey?
If so, you can use my Free Resource Pack to help get your real estate investing journey off the ground. It includes:
- My Offer Sheet Template
- My Phone Scripts for Calling Real Estate Agents
- The Wholesaling Deal Tracker
So what are you waiting for?
Start your real estate investing journey towards financial freedom today!
